US offers more training for Guyana Prison Officers, Government accepts

During a post cabinet media briefing on Thursday, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman made the announcement of the Guyanese delegation that will attend.

US offers more training for Guyana Prison Officers, Government accepts

More training in the areas of human rights and the use of force is in the pipeline for Guyanese prison officers in the aftermath of the deadly March 3 unrest at the Camp Street Prison, Georgetown.

Officers from the Guyana Prison Service have been selected for an Emergency and Response Team (ERT) training course at the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Facilities in the United States.

During a post cabinet media briefing on Thursday, Natural Resources Minister Raphael Trotman made the announcement. The training was made available by invitation from the United States to the Government of Guyana.

Assistant Superintendent of Prisons Kelvin Hutson will lead the delegation of Cadet Officers, the Chief Prison Officer, Principal Prisoners Officer, Trade Instruction and other officers.

The objective of the course is to teach the basics of emergency response, the judicious use of force and the observation of international human rights standards.

It also aims to teach the tactics and techniques to be employed by emergency prison response teams.

This comes at a time when the Guyana Prison Service continues to be criticized for the manner in which it handled the recent unrest which left 17 prisoners dead.

Two weeks ago, the government also announced the participation of prison officials in the 18th Mock Prison Riot (MPR) to be held from May 1st to 4th, 2016 in the USA. Held every spring at the decommissioned West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville, West Virginia, the Mock Prison Riot features hands-on training and technology exposure to corrections, law enforcement, military, and public safety practitioners from around the world.

This event facilitates tactical training, technology deployment and demonstrations. The announcement came as Guyana is recovering from what is being considered the worst prison riot in history.

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